Sickle cell disease can affect people of any race but it is far more common among African Americans than it is among whites. About one in every 500 African-American children is born with the sickle cell trait.

Now a new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds that black children who develop sickle cell disease are more likely than other black children to have intellectual disabilities, hearing impairments, and to experience severe headaches or migraines. The study, published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, found that black children with sickle cell disease are four times as likely as other black children to have fair or poor health status and are twice as likely as other black children to have visited a mental health professional.